TMFBent (99.81)

iPhone: only $1,500

4

So much for that humorous notion that iPhone retail prices are not supported by "subsidies" or big revenue shares from the carrier. Germany gives us a glimpse of what an iPhone costs without that monthly check from the carrier to Cupertino.

I don't think it is precisely correct to call it a subsidy. They are just making the price the same in both markets.

If I make something for $5 and sell it for $10 with a contract that pays me $2 a month for a year, I make $29.

Those $2 payments aren't a subsidy. As a corollary, if I sell the same product for $34 with no such contract, I make the same amount of money. The iphone in no way shape or form costs Apple $1500 to produce. That is off a LARGE amount, closer to an order of magnitude than a simple percent error.